FDNY hero trio dies

9/11-related illness

Three FDNY firefighters who responded to the Sept. 11 terror attacks died over Memorial Day weekend of illnesses related to their work on “the pile,” officials said Tuesday.

“In the days leading up to the 20th anniversary of the end of the recovery efforts at Ground Zero, three FDNY firefighters lost their battles with World Trade Center-related illness,” said Andrew Ansbro, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.

“The terrorist attacks and the resulting recovery operation continue to claim the lives of many New York City firefighters that answered the call that day and in the months that followed.”

Retired firefighter Robert J. Reynolds, who served in the department for 20 years, succumbed to a WTC-related illness on Saturday. He was assigned to Engine 96.

Supervising Fire Marshal John J. McCauley died on Sunday, the department said.

Firefighter Michael Verzi, of Engine 97, also died Sunday of an illness related to his work at Ground Zero, the FDNY said.

“We will never forget Firefighter Robert Reynolds, Firefighter Michael Verzi, and Supervising Fire Marshal Jack McCauley, who have been taken from us far too soon,” Ansbro said. “For those of us that lived through it, we continue to lose friends and family and will continue to care for those that have been sickened.”

The FDNY was the hardest-hit group of first responders on 9/11, losing 343 members at the World Trade Center site and 253 later dying of illnesses, union leaders told The Post last year.

Officials said in a report last year that more people are believed to have died from 9/11-related illnesses than those killed in the attacks. There were 2,996 victims killed on 9/11, while federal statistics show that 3,311 people enrolled in the CDC’s World Trade Center Health Program have died, although the agency doesn’t cite an exact cause of death.